NAIA releases Women’s Basketball Preseason Top 25 Rankings

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Westmont (Calif.) opens up the 2020-21 season at No. 1 in the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll announced by the national office on Wednesday, as the NAIA ushers in a new era of women’s basketball with one combined division.

Poll Methodology

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.

The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second place and so on through the list.

The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered low ratings) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) on which the team appears.

Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”

2020-21 NAIA Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Preseason (October 14, 2020)

RANK/LAST YEAR SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] 2019-20 RECORD/POINTS
1 1 (I) Westmont (Calif.) [17] 27-3 586
2 2 (I) Wayland Baptist (Texas) [4] 31-2 563
3 2 (II) Marian (Ind.) 31-3 545
4 4 (I) Campbellsville (Ky.) 29-3 534
5 5 (I) The Master’s (Calif.) 29-3 529
6 3 (I) Oklahoma City 30-2 486
7 3 (II) Southeastern (Fla.) 27-3 464
8 12 (II) Dordt (Iowa) 24-8 438
9 8 (I) Shawnee State (Ohio) 29-4 437
10 9 (I) Vanguard (Calif.) 23-6 416
11 1 (II) Concordia (Neb.) 32-2 413
12 5 (II) College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 29-4 343
13 20 (I) Clarke (Iowa) 25-7 327
14 6 (I) Bethel (Tenn.) 29-4 302
14 21 (I) Thomas More (Ky.) 22-10 302
16 8 (II) St. Francis (Ill.) 29-5 276
17 6 (I) Central Methodist (Mo.) 31-2 274
18 11 (I) Lyon (Ark.) 29-3 268
19 10 (I) Talladega (Ala.) 28-5 247
20 17 (I) Carroll (Mont.) 21-10 198
21 15 (I) Columbia (Mo.) 25-7 179
22 6 (II) Indiana Tech 30-4 155
23 9 (II) Saint Xavier (Ill.) 29-5 154
24 10 (II) Morningside (Iowa) 23-10 146
25 13 (I) Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 26-6 144

Receiving Votes: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 122, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 102, Indiana Wesleyan 98, Bryan (Tenn.) 73, Loyola (La.) 71, Providence (Mont.) 50, WVU Tech (W.Va.) 42, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 27, Sterling (Kan.) 25, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 12, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 6, Union (Ky.) 4, Antelope Valley (Calif.) 3, Rust (Miss.) 3, Bushnell (Ore.) 3